“If we take over the entire world, where are they going to hide?”
Kael questioned, and at his words, the King just laughed.
“I didn’t think you were so ruthless.
Direct executions, huh?”
“Isn’t that the sentence for those who fall to corruption?”
“It is the sentence for those who use the Power of Corruption, not the Energy of Dawn.”
The King corrected.
“They are the same thing.”
“Not anymore.”
Alden shook his head.
“With Xenthalor, one of the strongest Empires, promoting its use, Power of Corruption and Energy of Dawn are no longer the same thing.”
“But if we ban Energy of Dawn’s use, then—”
“By now, the Xenthalor Empire should be full of individuals who think Energy of Dawn is actually good for their Bonds and have innocently used it to strengthen their Bonds. If we announce the ban and start executing the culprits, we will be executing countless innocents who only did what they thought was the best for their Bonds.”
The King answered with a light smile on his face; he was looking forward to seeing how the Hero would react to this.
Kael frowned.
Executing innocents…
He obviously couldn’t do that.
Soon, however, another idea came to his mind,
“What if… we kill the corrupted beasts instead?”
“So instead of killing Tamers, kill the Bonds they cherish so much?”
The King raised his eyebrow, but this time, Kael didn’t back down.
“If they cherished their Bonds so much, they wouldn’t have rushed to strengthen them at the first notice.
It didn’t matter if it was their Empire who promoted its use—when it comes to my children, I’ll let thousands of others test before I even think of putting mine at risk.”
The King smiled at those words, but Kael didn’t stop—not after hearing the King’s counters.
“Your Majesty, we need to act quickly. The more time we take to declare the ban, the more innocents will suffer.”
“It won’t work.”
The King shook his head.
“What?”
“If we use our strength to declare the ban, it will never work. We are not tyrants, and we do not rule them. Other nations, especially Xenthalor, will stand against us openly. Some will try to shift the blame and create a notion that we declared the ban because we wish to strengthen ourselves and suppress others.
War will ensue.”
“And we will win.
We have Dragons.
If we reveal the Dragons, nations will surrender.”
Kael pressed on.
“They will not.”
Again, the King shook his head.
“The Dragons are strong, yes.
But if other nations didn’t have a way to counter them, don’t you think Drakthar would have taken over the world already?”
“Way to… counter against fully grown Dragons…?”
Kael blinked.
Soon, however, images of dead Igni and other Dragons appeared in his mind as he clenched his fists,
“What ways? And who has these ways?”
He questioned, his eyes showing intense emotions. If… if he could find the bastards who have these ways, he would know who the enemy is.
The real enemy, the one who killed his Igni in the future.
Noticing his intense emotions, the King was taken aback, unable to understand where this anger came from.
The Hero’s eyes almost matched a tyrant who would destroy anything that came in front of him—something that worried Alden for a moment. For now, however, he decided to answer the question.
The Hero had to know—a Dragon chose him. It only meant one thing: the Hero was indeed the man who would protect Nerathis against the coming dangers.
Yes, just like Veylara, Alden trusted Dragons more than Feraos.
He could now go all in, support the Hero, and gain his trust.
“All major forces.”
Alden answered.
“What…?”
Kael blinked.
“All major forces have a way to go against Dragons.”
“How…?”
“Dragons aren’t the only Mythical Ranked Beasts, Hero.”
“So other nations…”
“Yes, they all have their own Mythical Ranked Beasts protecting their lands.
Xenthalor, the Magic Empire, has Phoenixes.
Eryndor, the Kingdom of Warriors, has Warborns.
And Zephyria, the Sky Kingdom, has Celestrals.
Sure, these creatures might not be as balanced as Dragons, but they are not any weaker. If we act as tyrants and ban the Energy of Dawn without a reason, the rest of the Nations will stand against us.
If we use Dragons to defend ourselves, a battle between the strongest Mythical Ranked Beasts will ensue, and Nerathis will be destroyed—with or without Twilight’s intervention.”
“…”
Kael turned silent.
He finally understood the power dynamics of Nerathis.
Every nation here has a nuclear power. If they pushed beyond reason, they would use that nuclear power, forcing the other nations to use their nuclear powers as well. The War would then become a Nuclear War and everything would end.
‘That sounds oddly familiar…’
A wry smile appeared on Kael’s face.
“So what should we do…?”
He questioned, somewhat helpless.
“I am sure the council members are discussing countermeasures and ways to deal with the situation.”
The King smiled.
“I do not trust them.”
Kael was honest, and the King liked it.
“I don’t either.”
He agreed.
“But that only makes them much more efficient for the job.”
Kael narrowed his eyes, and Alden explained,
“One or more than one of them is a traitor—not a good thing. But now that the fact that there is a traitor is revealed, the traitors will do their very best to hide themselves. They will come up with ideas to deal with Xenthalor and the current situation in order to constantly prove their innocence.”
The King then smiled and,
“In this meeting, we can expect their full, wholehearted participation.”
Kael stared at the man in front of him and finally realized why he was the King.
To come up with a way to use the enemies against themselves—that too, while having a normal conversation. What could this man do when he was given time to think?
Kael also didn’t fail to notice how calm he was—even when the entire world was turning to shit, the King didn’t lose his composure. He just kept the same smile on his face and continued.
Heck, his calm expression even calmed him. This was the first time he saw the vision of Igni’s death and didn’t practically collapse, gasping for air.
“Leave the council matters to the council, Kael. If you worry about everything, there will be too many things for you to worry about.”
Kael nodded at those words.
“So? Are we done here? Or do you have anything else to talk about?”
The King questioned again, and since Kael had calmed a little, he finally had the time to think.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on a table beside the King’s bed. On the table, there was a quill and a dark red book.
It seemed like the King liked to write a diary.
Or maybe it was an autobiography?
‘Kings and their obsession with leaving a mark on history.’
Kael chuckled as he thought about it.
Soon, however, his eyes fell on a picture frame placed at the corner of the table—close enough for the King to reach toward it from his bed. Kael couldn’t see whose picture it was since it was facing the bed and not him,
But he did manage to see long purple hair.
He strained his eyes, wanting to know who it was, then suddenly,
‘It’s the princess.’
Igni, knowing what his father wanted, answered like the responsible son he was.
“Lavinia…”
Kael muttered out loud.
The King frowned. He had noticed the Hero’s gaze but didn’t say anything. However, the moment Kael said the name, Alden couldn’t hold back.
“What about her?”
“I wish to meet her.”